


Not a City of Angels

by aforallyyyyyyx



Category: Glee, The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, And those Glee cameos will be people like Blond Chameleon and/or Asian Persuasion, AnderBros, Bisexual Barry Allen, Bisexual Sebastian Smythe, Blaine Anderson is Nightbird, Blangst, CCPD Cooper, F/M, Glee Superhero AU, Glee cameos may occur, M/M, Metahuman Blaine Anderson, Nightflash - Freeform, Not Klaine Friendly, Not a City of Angels Verse, Not really Kurt friendly, Past Blaine Anderson/Kurt Hummel, Police Officer Cooper Anderson, Pre Barry Allen/Blaine Anderson, Sebastian Smythe is Barry Allen | The Flash, as metahumans, i guess, obviously, particle accelerator, sad face, smiley face - Freeform, they are the same person anyway, yes he gave up acting
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-15
Updated: 2017-05-15
Packaged: 2018-11-01 07:18:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,338
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10917012
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aforallyyyyyyx/pseuds/aforallyyyyyyx
Summary: If only the world was able to know what was coming. If only, because then, maybe, they could be prepared. Blaine Anderson fell off of a roof that day, and gained wings to cover the night. Barry Allen awoke with the extraordinary ability to run faster than any man or woman. There was only one person who could run faster than him- The Man in Yellow, who murdered his mother years ago. This is the story of the Flash and Nightbird, and how they helped protect Central City from crime and the biggest threat of all- themselves.





	1. Wings

_Nov 11 2013 9:00 AM_  
 _One month before the Particle Accelerator explodes_  
  
The sound of rain battering on the roof of the rental was all Blaine could hear as he drove in the dark with trembling hands. The car was an Audi, and if Blaine wanted to think more, he’d have thought to ask for a better one.   
      
But Blaine didn’t care. A man as he should have, _would_ have, prowled the Hertz carpark in the early hours of dawn, fresh off his morning flight. The unusually good-natured attendant and would ave held a brief conversation with him as he scoured for the mid-sized vehicle he liked. Maybe negotiated for an upgrade in the frosty sunlight, his family standing behind him with their luggage. Kurt would have acted the impatient angel he was. And now, Blaine was alone.   
      
The shaking man was approaching Central City limits, his tanned hands gripping the steering wheel of the Audi with whiter knuckles. He briefly glanced into the front mirror at his reflection, an unusually handsome face for someone so broken.  Damaged inside.   
      
Blaine couldn’t even sigh. His eyes were wide, and his dark, gelled hair appeared mussed and frazzled in the light.   
      
He didn’t know where he was going, but he knew what he was- lost.  Blaine drove in silence; he didn’t dare turn on the radio. He couldn’t.  
      
“Squirt?” Blaine heard a voice as the car door was opened. “What’re you-”  
      
Blaine got out of the black Audi with unsteady feet, shivering in the winter morning. His small frame was covered suddenly by his brother’s warm embrace. He found comfort at last.

* * *

_Dec 11 2013 9:00 PM_  
 _Day of Particle Accelerator Explosion_  
  
December 11th was an important day. That night, however, Blaine was interested in a spectacular event- but not just any event- the switching on of S.T.A.R. Labs’ famed Particle Accelerator.  
      
“Do you think it’s going to work?” wondered a stranger as Blaine arrived on the rooftop of his brand new apartment building. That’s right- Blaine was now getting his own place in Central City. Blaine imagined he was encroaching on Cooper’s welcoming hospitality the longer he stayed. And so, that night, he was in charge of entertaining himself, which ended up with him watching the Particle Accelerator being turned on. Blaine was excited.  
  
A few other tenants were up there, as well. Blaine smiled at them, his face bright, if not for the darkness around them all. They politely nodded back.  
  
The night was sharp, with only the icy remnants of fallen stars to guide the strangers home. Under the shroud of ancient blackness, the many figures stood, not alone, but Blaine experienced something of the sort very similar to isolation.  
  
They weren’t excited, not like him. Blaine, irregularly, had a heart bursting with anticipation. It wasn’t often he got truly riled about anything, anymore. Not after the break up with Kurt.  
  
 _A rare opening of light split the darkness…_ A woman was telling him something _…at its center_ …her tone frantic.… _Blaine didn’t move or blink, in…_ The woman spoke, “Get out!” _a sudden haze…_  
  
“Sir, I don’t think this is safe, we should go-”  
  
 _He was waiting for the invasion to stop. It did._  
  
“Come on!”  
  
Three seconds more. His body felt the prick of adrenaline, letting loose in his bloodstream like poison through a vein…  
  
Blaine didn’t like being afraid. He felt the woman tug on his arms, and for a brief moment, saw the light from the Particle Accelerator, brilliant as the sun in the sky, but it was night out. He could see the wave of energy coming closer, swallowing his view of S.T.A.R. Labs. It was storming, and as soon as Blaine tried to run, to try and get to safety, the world went up in sparks, lightning, and and the worst of all, there was the explosion…  
  


* * *

  
  
Blaine was floating. And no, not because of the events of the explosion that occurred in the exterior, but because he felt lost inside. Take any night, for example, where he would lay in solemn silence, just like this one. With the exception of the fire outside. As he lay in agony on the rooftop, unable to tell if he was alright, he could only think of his last night on Earth.   
  


* * *

  
_“I think I should move out, Kurt.”_  
      
Blaine squirmed under his duvet- rolling back and forth, achieving nothing but messing up his sheets.  
      
 _“We can’t go backwards!”_  
      
His hands fisted at the comforter.  
      
 _“By protecting something that is very precious to me.”_  
      
Tears welled in Blaine’s eyes. This was a bad idea. A stupid idea. Why did he ever suggest this? And how could Kurt just agree so easily?  
      
 _“I’ll visit Central City, with Coop. I don’t know when or if I’ll be back.”_  
      
Blaine turned over to bury his head in his pillow. It still had the smell of Kurt’s cologne – obviously from the balled up shirt that he’d put earlier on his bed, after Cooper helped to move his stuff in. He had his own apartment now, in Central City. He was all moved out and it was over. That fact only made the tears worse.  
      
Turning his head to the side, Blaine saw the time illuminated on his digital clock: 3:48 AM. This was getting ridiculous. Yes, sometimes his lack of good mental health meant Blaine could go well into the night without sleep, but now he had no one beside him to even wake up for. What was the _point?_  
      
Blaine huffed angrily at himself, turning over again to lie on his back- looking up at the blank ceiling of his new apartment, instead of the ceiling in the drafty old loft in New York City.  
      
 _This is better,_ he thought to himself. _It’s clearly what Kurt wanted. He wanted you gone again. Do you not remember what happened the last time Kurt made a life by himself in New York?_  
      
Blaine hated this. He knew it was all lies. He really did. But it would also be a lie to say he hadn’t believed all those things at least once in the past. So yes, he was the one to suggest calling their relationship quits...but Kurt had agreed. He had seemed glad to be rid of him.  
      
He just needed a sign- any sign- to tell him this was worth it.  
      
As Blaine was about to get his phone out of his bedside drawer, it screen lit up.  
      
Kurt.  
      
Blaine’s heart was heavy, and he almost let out a sob when he slid across the screen to accept the call.  
      
“Kurt,” it came out soft and wispy, like saying anything else would instantly cause his fiancé to hang up on him.  
      
 _“Hi, honey bee,”_ Kurt said so sweetly on the other end.  
      
There was a pause and Blaine sniffed loudly, holding back the tears.  
      
“Kurt, it’s nearly 4am. It’s been two weeks…I just don’t get why you’re calling me…”  
      
There was no bite at all to Blaine’s question- more a concern. Yet again, there was a small but comfortable lull in conversation as they processed the day’s events.  
      
“Kurt?”  
      
“Yeah, Blaine?”  
      
A beat.  
      
“I really miss you.”  
      
Kurt was waiting for it. He knew from the last time he and Blaine had been separated, things went bad very quickly. He knew Blaine had a problem with loneliness- never feeling like anyone could hear him, no matter how loud he shouted.  
      
Kurt had learnt to prevent it ever reaching the point where Blaine had to shout to be heard. Which is why he was in bed at 4am, on the phone to his ex whom he knew would be beating himself up over what had happened. And how it ended.  
      
 _“I miss you too, honey.”_  
      
Blaine breathed a sigh of relief on the other end and Kurt was sure he even heard a yawn, followed by Blaine settling down into his sheets.  
      
“And Blaine?”  
      
“Yeah?” came the sleepy reply.  
      
“I really just called to say one thing,” a deep breath in, “I'm sorry.”

* * *

  
  
And now, Blaine was dying. Well, it felt like he was dying. He would never speak to Kurt again, nevertheless return his “I love you”.   
      
He had no way to tell how much time had passed. Everything alternated between black and blinding white. When he awoke again, everything tasted like blood and smoke.  
      
Sorting out his thoughts was nearly impossible, but his gut told him he was in trouble. He tried to push through the murky confusion and the searing pain to figure out where he was and how to get out. He tried turning his head to look to his left, and it hurt like hell. He could make out crumbled stone, bits of glass, smoke.  
      
 _What happened?_


	2. Cooper

Cooper was on the clock at the Central City Police Department when the explosion occurred.  
  
For a moment, he thought it was all part of the elaborate dream he experienced the other day when him and Blaine went out to a bar. The brothers had gotten completely wasted. Cooper had convinced himself beforehand that it was okay: mourning their parents and all.  
  
But the pounding in his head told him differently.  
  
No, he was sober now. This was really happening.  
  
He didn’t know how long he stood there, staring at lights emitted from the Particle Accelerator just blocks away. The lights emitted from S.T.A.R. Labs just blocks away, the lights that were supposed to mean success- safety.  
  
It crossed his mind that it was almost pretty. The orange and yellow reflection of fire against the blue and gray steel buildings were a bright contrast, accented by the clouds of black smoke, almost unseen in the night sky. It covered up stars and was occasionally lit up by lightning from the storm…  
      
It was only the screams of people in the streets that brought him back to reality.  
      
Blaine.  
      
He had been watching the Particle Accelerator turn on from his new condo in the city, just a street away from S.T.A.R. Labs in the expensive business district. For a millennial,   it was a dream come true. But their parents’ inheritance had really paid off.  
      
Cooper ran.  
      
He sprinted the few blocks, racing as fast his lungs would allow him.  
      
People were swarming everywhere, and he pushed and squirmed to get to the spot where Blaine’s apartment building was, using his police badge as an excuse.  
      
The air was thick with smoke and the police were already closing off the area around the building.  
      
“Blaine! Blaine!” He found himself screaming his name, his voice hoarse and high pitched.  
      
“Blaine! Blaine!” He pushed forward even further, despite the force of the crowd pushing him backwards.  
      
Everywhere, other police and firefighters were trying to get people away from the building and under control.  
      
His screams were lost in the ruckus of people all around him, calling out names, crying, screaming.  
      
“Blaine!” He called out desperately again as another police officer pushed him backwards, one that he recognized as Eddie Thawne, who had followed him out the door. When he refused to be budged, Eddie, so hopelessly confused and concerned, had to forcibly put his hands on his shoulders and shift his back.  
  
Just as he was about to push back against his coworker, he saw it and all the fight was knocked out of him.  
      
There were people lying on the ground, fallen from the observatory deck.  
      
He stopped screaming. He stopped panicking. He stopped trying.  
      
He vomited on the sidewalk.  
      
An otherworldly calm settled over him and he just _knew_.  
      
It felt like the earth was still shaking, to Cooper, but on a lower level than before. It was like he was trying to block all things out, but the only thing he could not was the acceptance. His kid brother was lost.  
  


* * *

  
  
_“And as we continue to cover the damage caused by the famed-Particle Accelerator explosion in Central City, Ohio, more bulletins are coming in. Fatalities are now reported to be at least 17 confirmed dead and countless injured. Central City is accepting police assistance from Starling City, as well as Keystone. S.T.A.R. Labs seems to be currently unavailable to tell us what went wrong just five days ago.”_  
      
The sound of the news reporter on the television barely made Cooper flinch. Five days had passed, and both of his siblings were alive, at least. At least Captain Singh at the C.C.P.D. had let him be relieved of his duties, even though Cooper knew that they needed all hands on deck.   
      
Some were calling it the new 9/11, but Cooper disagreed. It was a science experiment gone wrong on a major scale, and his city and family had to pay the price. He was barely making it through this, his heart pumping blood either sluggishly in defeat, or erratically in fear of losing Blaine.   
      
Cooper was alone, and he felt it.  
      
He stood up, and strode over to the window of his apartment purposefully. He stared at the distant horizon. He surveyed the city, realizing that of all the moments he had felt utterly and spectacularly alone in the metropolis, he had never experienced anything like this before.   
      
Blaine had been a heavy relationship with Kurt Hummel, who, four years later, apparently broke off their engagement just weeks before the Particle Accelerator exploded. Kurt was here, though, in Central City, with Blaine at the hospital. Cooper was only meant to be at the apartment to change and shower, before he had to get back to Blaine, who was still in critical condition.  
      
“I promise.” He whispered as he stared at the sky through the window.  
      
When the thick silence hung in the air and carried no reply, he repeated himself.  
      
“I promise.”  
      
Silence.  
      
What he was promising, he wasn’t sure, but Blaine needed him. And with that, Cooper grabbed his car keys and left.

**Author's Note:**

> Blaine doesn't know that Barry lives in Central City, and they will interact later, of course.


End file.
